Spring flood on the Neosho

   The entire Mid-west region was hammered by heavy rains over this past weekend. At the Pecan Experiment Field, we recorded almost 4.5 inches of rain for Saturday April 29 and Sunday April 30. With all this rainfall, the Neosho River has spilled over its banks and covered the pecan groves in the Chetopa, KS area. Today, I drove down the highway to get a good view of the flooding (photo above). More rain is predicted for this week and the river is forecast to stay flooded until Thursday (May 4th).
   Flooding is a natural part of the native pecan ecosystem. Pecan trees tolerate flooding for short periods of time (less that 10 days) but fibrous pecan roots will start to die if soils remain flooded for a long time (more that 3 weeks). 

Wednesday May 3rd update:

Another 2 inches of rain today, which means our flood will continue for the rest of the week. Below is a chart of the Neosho River level at Stepford bridge which is located just a couple of miles down river from Chetopa. When the river reaches 18 feet, water begins to cover the road to the Pecan Field. At 24 feet, we will start to get water in our buildings. This flood, at 22 feet, will cover all areas of the farm but should stay out of our buildings. Next week, we'll find out how much flood related debris there will be to clean up.